OH SAY, CAN YOU SEE

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OH SAY, CAN YOU SEE?

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We had the boogie woogie bugle boy

My country right or wrong

A flag blowing in a gentle breeze

A patriotic song

We all knew back then

This country was the best

Hadn't we fought and won?

Didn't we pass the test?

We were like innocent children

With our faith in Uncle Sam

But so much has transpired

Now I wonder where I am

But before I wax nostalgic

I must remember you and me

Do not want to be controlled

We want a country that is free

That means freedom to make mistakes

To start down a dead end

We are all in this together

We must not be foes, but friends

A Spirit of Cooperation

Must sweep across the land

No one can hold a weapon 

If we are all holding hands

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LIMO

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LIMO

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Hate is a sleek black limousine

That shows up in the midst of a crisis, of chaos

Silent, impenetrable, menacing

Hate glides up and a door slowly swings open

If you get in you will be swept away

From where the problem is

To somewhere else, away from the bad place

Where you can get out and start over

And watch the hatemobile slither away

Always ready to be summoned like a demon

That occasionally does us a favor by helping us

To exit a bad situation for once and for all

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DANCE PARTY

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DANCE PARTY

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A dance party can pop up at any time

In any place

It doesn't have to last long

It can be a happy dance, a crazy dance

A fast and furious dance, or a dance expressing

Some complex multilayered emotions

That don't actually have a name

The important thing is - spontaneous dancing

Is an important tool

For unifying mind and body in expressing

Our mysterious inner lives

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LONG AGO FAR AWAY

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LONG AGO, FAR AWAY

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A strange amnesia

Like a dense swirling fog

Covers much of what could be remembered

From the past

A few powerful memories

Poke their momentous mountain tops

Above the clouds

But the dense drifting mist 

In the Valley of Ordinary Days

Covers all the myriad details

Where the devil is

And where the better angels of our natures

Feel their way towards the light

It is important to remember 

How desperately hard we tried

How our young hearts ached

How confusing it all was

This remembering of our innocence

Gives us a certain tender mercy

Towards our dear former selves

Groping around in the Land of the Past

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